Browsing by Author "Valkama, Tuuli"

The European Commission suggested in 2008 that the EU border management should take a step forward to combat organised crime and illegal immigration. In 2013 the European Commission published its legislative proposal on the European Smart Borders package for automated border controls. The legislative proposal included three regulations: (1) a proposal to establish the Entry/Exit System that would automatically alert the authorities if a visa holder has exceed his/her stay; (2) a proposal for the Registered Travelled Programme that would enable speedy border proceedings for frequent third country passengers; and (3) a regulation to amend the Schengen Borders Code to make it compatible with the proposals. The European Commission proposal received a lot of critic and it was said to be in conflict with fundamental rights, especially with the data protection right. In 2016 the Commission published its new proposal for the EU Smart Borders package. The legislative process is on-going as the European Parliament and the Council have agreed to start the negations. The research evaluates the need for border management changes as well as the possible fundamental right protection issues that may arise as the European Commission proposal, for example, includes processing and storing biometrical data of third country nationals. The topic is approached by looking into the current and past situation of EU border management as well as its connection with the fundamental rights protection. A conclusion for the research is that the EU Smart Borders proposal has a legitimate aim and it does not conflict with human rights protection, even though it limits the right to data protection as stated in Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.